When Lenovo acquired Motorola in 2014, it shook the Moto G line up a little. Gone was the single phone in each G-generation in favor of multiple models at different price points. Of these, the 'G Plus' model was arguably the most important addition.

With impressive specs for budget price points, the G line moved up into the bourgeoisie of the smartphone world. This trend continued into 2018 as the Moto G6 Plus balanced a refined design, plenty of power and a quality experience.

The Moto G7 Plus is almost here, promising more goodness at the point where budget meets mid-range, and expectations are running high.

You’ll also find information about the price and release date below, as well as all the Moto G7 Plus rumors, leaks and analysis.

Cut to the chase

What is it? Moto's next big-screen budget phone

When is it out? Launch date rumored to be February 7

What will it cost? Up to around £300/$400/AU$500

Moto G7 Plus release date and price

The Moto G7 Plus launch date could be as early as February 7, as Motorola is holding an event in Brazil – the location for the launch of the G6 series in 2018.

If February 7 is the launch date for the Moto G7 Plus, it would be much earlier than the previous year when the G6 range were announced in April 2018.

There’s no word on the Moto G7 Plus price just yet, but seeing as Moto G6 Plus launched for £269 / AU$499 (about $380), we expect the G7 Plus to cost around the same.

Moto G7 Plus design and display

We got a good look at the Moto G7 Plus quite early on, courtesy of the leaked render below.

This particular render suggests the G7 Plus will feature a teardrop notch, a bezel below the screen and a dual-lens camera along with what looks to be a fingerprint scanner on the back.

Could this be the Moto G7 Plus? (credit: MySmartPrice)

According to the same source, the Moto G7 Plus will come in red (pictured above) and blue.

According to the image leak, and a comprehensive spec leak, the Moto G7 Plus will pack a 6.2-inch (or 6.24-inch to be exact) Full HD+ display, which considering this is set to be a budget handset is quite simply huge.

This goes against an earlier rumor which suggested the G7 Plus will have a 6.4-inch display, but this is now looking unlikely with a number of more recent Moto G7 Plus leaks sticking with 6.2 inches.

Moto G7 Plus power and perfomance

That should give you enough power, and paired with a rumored 4GB of RAM, Android should run smoothly.

The same leaks also point towards the Moto G7 Plus running Android 9 Pie (the latest version of the operating system) and packing at least 64GB of storage, although a 128GB variant may be available in some regions.

What appears to be agreed on though is the dual camera setup on the rear, which is said to feature 16MP and 5MP sensors above a fingerprint scanner.

What we want to see

Based on our usage of the range we’ve collected a few thoughts on what we would like to see in the next incarnation of the handset.

1. A HDR-enabled screen

A high-quality screen could help the Moto G7 Plus stand out

HDR tech is all the rage at the moment, supported by Netflix, YouTube and more, this fancy add-on is featured by a growing number of smartphones – allowing improved color, contrast and clarity when viewing optimized video.

Given that the screen size of the Moto G series, the Plus in particular, is always growing, we’d really like to see Lenovo go all out and bring a truly quality panel to the sub-£300/$400 price range, with HDR, AMOLED and all the other lovely flagship features.

2. Better audio output

At the high end of the smartphone market, teaming up with a known audio brand has become all the rage. Some have Dolby tuning, Samsung has its fingers wrapped around AKG. As such we’d like to see the Moto G7 Plus come with a powerful DAC in tow – maybe one tweaked to perfection by a famous audio brand.

This would allow those privileged few who own fancy headphones to rock out a little harder, but would also provide a better listening experience overall for the average Joe and his out-of-the-box earbuds. Perhaps the company could even follow HTC’s lead and offer a slightly fancier pair with the phone itself?

Paying some serious attention to the musical chops of its premium budget offering could really help Lenovo to draw attention to the G7 Plus in what is becoming an increasingly competitive segment.

3. Better biometrics

More and better ways to unlock the G7 Plus would be appreciated

At the moment, and there is nothing wrong with this, the Moto G Plus range comes with a standard fingerprint sensor beneath the display. It is functional, but nothing more – just another way to log in to your phone.

There’s also basic facial recognition on the G6 Plus, but we’d like to see a more advanced option from the Moto G7 Plus, something more like Apple’s Face ID or Samsung’s Intelligent Scan.

Certainly if the new device will make its way to us with a notch in tow, Lenovo could do little better than to add in an infrared biometric sensor – or indeed a fingerprint sensor embedded underneath the display itself.

The options are many, however a greater variety of options for logging in would provide some needed versatility to the security of the device.

4. A truly powerful chipset

For years now, what has really established budget phones as, well, budget, has been their choice of chipset. Although fine in general with the day-to-day business of swiping away notifications and general promenading around the UI, when things get tough these processors never really get going.

By adding a chipset with a little more oomph, something equivalent to the Snapdragon 660 found in the Nokia 7 Plus, or one of Qualcomm’s new 710 chips, Lenovo could really cause the average buyer to question the sanity of laying down over a thousand dollarpounds for the latest iDevice.

Adding such an chipset would also serve to future-proof the Moto G7 Plus against new updates and more, especially if tuned properly.

5. Moto mod support

The Polaroid Insta-Share Printer is one of many Moto Mods

Refining the design of the Moto G7 Plus and adding the necessary Moto mod connectors would open up the device, and a legion of consumers, to the weird and wacky world of Moto mods.

Style covers, pico projectors, boom boxes and more abound, this is a differentiator that only Lenovo has access to – and could be a real draw, especially as it has traditionally been confined to the flagship Z series. As such this would perhaps be at the expense of the Z Play series, but only a few would likely mourn the loss.

6. A brave new design

Lenovo is many things, but daring in design it is not. While the G series is dependably utilitarian in its looks, it isn’t what James Bond would take to a high-stakes poker game.

If the boat were to be pushed out a little, incorporating new materials, or a different design inspiration, the results could be what takes the Moto G7 Plus to new heights of success.

The glass sandwich is tried and true, but the time is right for something with a little more confidence and pizzazz, rather than relatively conservative and staid.

7. A more refined camera experience

When it comes to photographic quality, the Moto G6 Plus is no slouch. It produces lively, interesting images – but there is always room for improvement.

The camera app on Moto phones is renowned for having the same general responsiveness as the average person after a record Christmas dinner. Processing times are slow, for taking images as well as composing them.

Tightening up the software would do a great deal to improve the experience on the Moto G7 Plus.

We’d also like to see refinements to the image processing, which could use a little more nuance in low light scenes. Adding optical image stabilization would help a great deal to improve the imaging skills of the handset.